Exclusive Interview: Olga Kurylenko Talks the Dangers of Wish Fulfillment In THE ROOM
Drew Tinnin
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From Bond Girl in Quantum of Solace to working with Tom Cruise in Oblivion and legendary director Terence Malick in To the Wonder, actress Olga Kurylenko doesn’t really need her dreams to come true. They already have. Her character Kate in Christian Vlockman’s The Room, on the other hand, wishes the world away in a Twilight Zone inspired story about a room with the power to give you anything you want. Unfortunately for Kate, her heart’s desire isn’t a thing, it’s a person.
Having just relocated to L.A., Kurylenko was incredibly affable and overly generous with her time as we talked about the fun of playing in a fantasy world and how, interestingly, the idea of The Room can take on an entirely new, more relatable meaning in the times we are living in.
Synopsis: When Kate and Matt leave the city to move into an old house, they discover a secret hidden room that has the extraordinary power to materialize anything they wish for. Their new life becomes a true fairytale. Yet beneath this apparent state of bliss, something darker lurks: some wishes can have dire consequences.
Dread Central: Did you guys film in Maryland or upstate New York for The Room or somewhere else?
Olga Kurylenko: Good question, we actually filmed in Belgium, can you believe it?
DC: That doesn’t surprise me at all.
OK: Since everything is set in the house it could be any country. They’re trapped in that house which is what is the case for many of us in the world because of the virus.
DC: That occurred to me.
OK: When this movie comes out now, there’s some type of connection people might find with this film.
DC: There are worst houses to be in than one that can grant you anything you want.
OK: If you’re in lockdown anyway, in that case it probably does make sense.
DC: I don’t think a lot of people realize how many great projects you’ve been a part of. Is The Room your first horror thriller and what got you excited about it?
OK: There are so many types of thrillers. But I think maybe this one is the biggest role in a thriller that I’ve had. I’m the lead together with Kevin [Janssens], so it’s just us. This one is purely psychological with bits of mystery and maybe horror. I love these types of films. It keeps you wondering what is going on and makes you create so many stories in your head and realize in the end that every single one of them was wrong. And this film…it just speaks about so many important subjects: the family dynamic, what happens to couples, and the Oedipus complex where the child wants to take the place of the parent…
And obviously, it explores our relationship to wealth and to abundance and the way you get things. Whether you work for them or get them easily and they just fall on your head from the sky. The way you appreciate them or you don’t. There are so many different themes.
DC: It’s frightening how quickly you both become different people. As you’re saying, the material things aren’t really special anymore if you didn’t earn it together as a couple. It must have been fun for you and Kevin to play in the fantasy world you created through the room wishes, at least at first. During that whole montage, I liked the astronaut costumes especially.
OK: That was fun! We just had a blast because it was just a day of running around, getting dressed in costumes, it was a lot of improv. We just had all that stuff and we could just grab things and do whatever we wanted with them. That’s what was fun because we all also had that freedom in the way that Christian [Volckman] just let us continue to play with things and see where the scene would go and where we could take it together. Kevin actually, I had this beautiful dress that they made, and he just completely grabbed it and he ripped it in half. He just felt like doing it because, in that scene, they both go crazy. He was wearing high heel shoes and I was wearing wigs and jumping around. There was a lot of improvisation for those types of moments. When I scared him at the beginning of the film, that was an idea I suggested to the crew because he was off the set. I hid in the box and when he came back, he had no idea I was there. We had lots of fun and it’s great when the crew goes along with your ideas. Everybody works together.
DC: You’ve worked with so many huge stars but, to me, it seems like the most pure acting you’ve done is probably opposite Kevin in this. Do you feel the same way?
OK: Oh really? That makes me happy to hear, I’m hoping that means you liked the film. They get in all sorts of states like despair and love and grief and desires. Everything. There’s a broad spectrum of emotions required. It was very interesting to work on that. It’s a great role to have in terms of acting. I’m so happy I did this film.
The Room is available on VOD, Digital HD, DVD and Blu-ray July 21st.
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